Hand guard for rifles



Feb. 6, 1968 T. LFFLER ET AL HAND GUARD FOR RIFLES Filed Feb. 17, 1966 United States Patent Otice bhli Patented Feb. 6, 1968 3,367,054 HAND GUARD FR RIFLES Theodor Lffler, Mullheim, laul Seitricd, Badenweiler, Gnther Wilmsmeyer, Mllheim, and Karl Harbrecht, Eisental, near Buhl, Germany, assignors tn Firma Rheinmetall G.m.b.H., Dusseldorf, Germany Filed Feb. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 528,179 Claims priority, application Germany, Feb. 19, 1965, R 39,944 7 Claims. (Cl. 42--71) ABSTRACT F THE DHSCLSURE A hand guard for rifles having an outer sleeve of heatinsulating material and an inner metal sleeve of approximately U-shape within the outer sleeve forming an air gap and with both sleeves having side limbs with the side limbs of the inner sleeve pressing resiliently against the side limbs of the outer sleeve at bent top edges.

The invention relates to hand guards for rifles, more particularly automatic rifles, consisting of a heat-insulating outer sleeve spaced from and surrounding the barrel of the rie and a metal inner sleeve, an air space being provided both between the two sleeves and between the barrel and the inner sleeve.

The varieties of hand guards of this kind heretofore known are, rst, not always satisfactory as regards heat insulation, because the hand guard becomes so hot after repeated bursts of continuous fire that the rifieman cannot hold the weapon any longer. Second, cleaning of the known hand guards is very difficult and frequently can be done incompletely only either because the hand guard can be removed from the rilie only after fixing screws or nuts have been undone or because the inner sleeve is fixed to the outer sleeve. The possibility of carrying out simple cleaning is important, however, because dirt and moisture which have penetrated into the gaps between the sleeves and the barrel rapidly become encrusted on the surfaces of those parts so that the heat insulation is impaired.

The object of the invention is to avoid these drawbacks and produce a hand guard which, on the one hand, offers particularly good heat insulation and, on the other hand, can be cleaned quickly and easily and c-an be dismantled rapidly and simply. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type of hand guard for the rifle known by the name G3, without increasing the weight or the cost of the hand guard.

The invention provides a hand guard of very simple construction and which is economic to produce, the hand guard oiiering good protection against heat and being easily and quickly dismantled and cleaned without the aid of tools. The invention consists in that the sleeves have in manner known per se a substantially U-shaped form and the inner sleeve, which consists of a bent metal plate, is designed so that it can be pushed into the outer sleeve in the axial direction, forming an air gap, and is retained in the outer sleeve solely by spring tension of its side portions.

Advantageously, the inner sleeve has a cross-sectional shape which is that of an arcuate segment subtending an angle of about 230290, the ends of the segment being in the form of substantially parallel side portions. The latter thereby produce a safe clamping section between the inner surfaces of the side portions of the outer sleeve.

The side portions of the inner sleeve may preferably be bent outwards at their top edge. This has the advantage that an air space is also maintained between the side portions and the outer sleeve. The pushing-in of the inner sleeve and the maintenance of the latter always in the same position in the outer sleeve are moreover facilitated by longitudinal grooves provided on the inner surfaces of the side portions of the outer sleeve, in which longitudinal grooves are engaged the outwardly-bent edges of the side portions of the inner sleeve.

Moreover, in order to obtain a circulation of air in the air spaces, ventilation openings known per se may be provided in the side portions of the sleeves. The ventilation openings are preferably arranged in the substantially parallel parts of the inner sleeve. In this way, radiation of heat on to the hand of the rifleman is avoided since those parts are not normally grasped.

The outer sleeve may be made either in the conventional manner from wood or consist in manner known per se of a plastics material and be formed in two parts.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings of which:

FIG. l shows a hand guard with a two-part outer sleeve (the front half having been removed),

FIG. 2 is a cross-section thereof, and

FIG. 3 shows a construction form of the inner sleeve.

The hand guard consists of an outer sleeve 1 and an inner sleeve 2. Both sleeves are substantially U-shaped. The outer sleeve 1 is divided along a vertical longitudinal central plane for simplicity of manufacture and is composed of two halves 1a and 1b which are held together by means of rivets 3, the halves of the outer sleeve consisting of a heat-insulating plastics material. For reinforcement purposes, sheet metal ferrules d, 5 are placed over the front and rear ends of the sleeve. The two-part construction of the outer sleeve permits the use of comparatively simple moulds, which results in low tool costs and very economic manufacture of the sleeve. The outer sleeve may, however, also be formed in one part in the manner heretofore known and consist of wood or be made of a plastic material by employing suitable moulds.

The hand guard is secured to the weapon in known manner by inserting the rear end of the guard in an annular groove 6 provided on the weapon, the front end of the guard abutting and being supported against a collar 8 mounted on the barrel 7- By inserting a bolt 9, the hand guard is locked in position.

The inner sleeve 2 consists of an aluminium plate of U-shape and having a cross-sectional shape which is that of an arcuate segment subtending an angle of from 230- 290, the ends of the segment being in the form of substantially parallel side portions 1t). As can be seen from FIG. 2, the top edges of the side portions are bent outwards slightly, so that they are able to engage in longitudinal grooves 11 provided in the inner surfaces of the side portions 1a, 1b of the outer sleeve as limbs 11'.

To assemble the sleeves, the inner sleeve is pushed easily into the outer sleeve in the axial direction from the rear end of the outer sleeve to engage a stop 13, the longitudinal grooves 11 of the inner sleeve serving as a guide. An air space 14 is formed between the outer and inner sleeves and an air space 1S is formed between the inner sleeve and the barrel.

The material for the inner sleeve and its cross-sectional shape are so chosen that, when it has been fitted, there is a cert-ain spring tension between the side portions or limbs 10 tending to move the latter outwardly. In this way, adequate holding of the inner sleeve is obtained without supplementary iixing means, so that assembly and dismantling and also cleaning of the hand guard are facilitated. When the hand guard has been mounted, the inner sleeve 2 is secured between the stop 13 and a reinforcement 19 located adjacent the rear of the barrel, so that axial displacement is impossible when the weapon is in use.

Ventilation openings or ports 12 are provided in the side portions 10 of the inner sleeve 2. Ventilation openings may also be formed by the top edges of the side portions 1t) being punched out at intervals, as shown in FIG. 3, s0 that after the inner sleeve 2 has been pushed into the outer sleeve 1, slot-shaped ventilation openings or ventilation ports 16 are formed. Moreover, in order to stillen the inner sleeve, that part of the sleeve which is in the form of an arcuate segment may be provided at the periphery with outwardly and/ or inwardly projecting corrugations 17, 18, as shown in FIG. 3. In that figure, reference 17 designates an outwardly projecting corrugation which extends over part only of the periphery, whereas corrugation 13 projects inwardly and extends over the entire arcuate portion of the sleeve.

The two air spaces 14 and 15 produced between the sleeves and the barrel S when the sleeves are assembled elect extremely good heat insulation which enables the hand guard to be grasped without danger even after frequent bursts of continuous iire.

We claim:

l. A hand guard for a rie comprising in combination an outer sleeve of heat-insulating material, an inner metal sleeve of approximately U-sha'pe located within the outer sleeve and spaced therefrom by an air gap, both sleeves having side limbs and a curved base and said inner sleeve having slightly outwardly bent tOp edges and being retained in said outer sleeve by the inherent resiliency of the side limbs of said inner sleeve against the side limbs of the outer sleeve by the bent top edges.

2. A hand guard as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising, for said inner sleeve, a curved base portion of arcuate shape which subtends an angle of from 230- 290D and substantially parallel side limbs.

3. A hand guard as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising, on the inner faces of the side limbs of said outer sleeve, longitudinal grooves in which said outwardly projecting extremities engage.

4. A hand guard as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising, stop means on said outer sleeve for locating said inner sleeve with respect to said outer sleeve.

5. A hand guard as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising ventilation ports in said parallel side limbs of said inner sleeve.

6. A hand guard as claimed in claim 1 in which ventilation ports are provided in said side limbs of the inner sleeve comprising gaps along the edges of said side limbs.

7. A hand guard as claimed in claim 1 in which said outer sleeve is of two-part construction, said two parts being of a plastics material.

References Cited UNTED STATES PATENTS 1,307,469 6/1919 Wilson 42-71 X 1,321,173 11/1919 Wilson 42--71 X 2,674,822 4/1954 Studler 42-71 2,965,994 12/1960 Sullivan 42-71 3,023,527 3/1962 Leek et -al 42-71 3,075,314 1/1963 Bakker 42-71 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. 

